Braised Red Cabbage

Name: Braised Red Cabbage
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Cuisine: Scandinavia and Germany
Ingredients: 1¼ kg (2⅔ lb) red cabbage, 1 medium head, quartered, cored and finely shredded; 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, or duck fat; 1 red onion, thinly sliced; 2 tart apples, peeled, cored and grated or diced; 100 ml (scant ½ cup) red wine vinegar or cider vinegar; 100 ml (scant ½ cup) blackcurrant or red berry juice, or water; 60 g (¼ cup packed) brown sugar, more or less to taste; 9 g (1½ tsp) fine sea salt; 1 cinnamon stick; 4 cloves; 1 bay leaf; 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly, optional, for gloss

Sweet-sour Nordic red cabbage with apple, vinegar and warm spices

Serves: 8
Hands-on: 20 min
Total: 1 h 50 min
Level: Easy

Slowly braised red cabbage — rødkål in Norway and Denmark — is the shining, purple, sweet-sour side that turns up at every Nordic Christmas table and works with any roast. Apple, vinegar and a little sugar balance it, and like many braises it improves after a day or two.

Ingredients

1¼ kgred cabbage (2⅔ lb)1 medium head, quartered, cored and finely shredded
30 gunsalted butter (2 tbsp)or duck fat
1red onionthinly sliced
2tart applespeeled, cored and grated or diced
100 mlred wine vinegar or cider vinegar (scant ½ cup)
100 mlblackcurrant or red berry juice (scant ½ cup)or water
60 gbrown sugar (¼ cup packed)more or less to taste
9 gfine sea salt (1½ tsp)
1cinnamon stick
4cloves
1bay leaf
2 tbspredcurrant jellyoptional, for gloss

Diet: Vegetarian, Gluten-free
Allergens: milk, sulphites
Origin: Scandinavia and Germany
Season: Autumn, Winter

Method

Melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion until soft, 5 minutes. 5 min
Add the cabbage, apple, vinegar, juice, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and bay. Stir well; the vinegar will turn the cabbage bright magenta.
Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over low heat, stirring every 15 minutes, until the cabbage is very tender and silky, 1½ hours. Add a splash of water if it starts to catch. 1 h 30 min
Uncover and cook a few minutes more if there's lots of liquid; it should be moist but not soupy. 5 min
Remove the whole spices. Stir in the redcurrant jelly and taste: it should be clearly sweet and sour. Adjust with sugar, vinegar or salt.

Why it works

Red cabbage's color comes from anthocyanins, which shift from purple-blue toward vivid red in acid; adding vinegar at the start sets the color and stops the cabbage turning a dull blue-gray. Long, gentle cooking breaks down its tough fibers until silky. Sugar and apple balance the acidity, while the spices give the warm, festive aroma.

Common mistakes

Adding the vinegar late: the cabbage turns blue-gray and stays that way.
Cooking too hot: the sugars catch and burn on the bottom. Keep it low and stir.
Shredding too thick: fine shreds become silky; thick ones stay chewy.

Variations

With port: Replace the juice with 100 ml port for a richer, darker version.

Make ahead and storage

Better made 1–3 days ahead. Keeps 1 week in the fridge and freezes for 3 months.

Notes

Vegan: use oil instead of butter. Leftovers are excellent in sandwiches with ham or pork.